Height: 5' 11"
Waist: 9' 4"
Calf: 3' 1"
Weight: 739lbs
Daniel Lambert was born in Leicester on March 13th 1770. Daniel's father, John Lambert, was the Keeper of the County Bridewell (House of Correction) on Highcross Street in Leicester.
As a boy, Daniel was athletic and healthy. He often taught children to swim in Leicester's River Soar. At the age of fourteen, Daniel was sent to work in Birmingham as an engraver and letter-cutter. He worked there for seven years before returning to Leicester to replace his father as Keeper of the Bridewell.
The Bridewells were run by local magistrates and originally places for vagrants, they now housed minor offenders. The Keeper was expected to make prisoners work in order to subsidise his salary. Daniel earned 21 pounds a year to run an establishment that basically consisted of three rooms. The prisoners appeared to hold Daniel in high regard. A report in 1809 states, "He never forbore to make the greatest exertions to assist them at the time of their trials." Apparently several prisoners left the prison pledging their gratitude for Daniel's support, and most apparently also left in tears. Certainly the magistrates seemed very happy with him. For when the Bridewell was merged with the county prison in 1804, and his services were no longer required, they granted him a pension.
Daniel was an excellent sportsman and he also bred cockerels and dogs. An avid hunter, by the age of 28 it was said that he was able to lift five hundredweight with ease. Being the sportsman that he was, it is puzzling as to how he managed to gain his weight. His immediate family were moderately proportioned, so we can only assume that there may have been an underlying medical factor.
Daniel's weight increase seems to have begun at the time he was Keeper of the Bridewell. With work that involved little activity, this is certainly a contributing factor. However, he did not drink and never ate more than one dish at mealtimes, stressing perhaps some type of metabolism disorder.
In 1793, Daniel's' weight had increased to 448 lbs, and by 1804, Daniel weighed in at 686 lbs! In March 1806, Daniel had no choice but to commission a special carriage which would carry him to London where he had plans to exhibit himself as a natural curiosity. He arrived in London in April, weighing a huge 700lbs.
This was a very traumatic time for Daniel, he craved his privacy and did not enjoy his exhibitionism, so in September 1806, he returned to Leicester to live privately.
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